Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors Kindle Edition

Politics and Presidents are touchy subjects, never more so then they currently are. So while I don't want to cross the line into the contentious, I have to be perfectly honest and say I never would have expected myself purchasing one of President Bush's books. But I watched an interview with him from Jimmy Kimmel's show while he was promoting this book, and when he mentioned that all the proceeds to to supporting causes for veterans, I said “I'm in”. Because I think supporting our vets and our troops is something that needs to cross party lines.In this book, former President Bush gives a brief narrative for why he took up painting and why he chose to focus so many on veterans in particular. The main body of the book contains the paintings and then brief vignettes about the individuals in each painting. He closes the book with some ideas that everyone can do to educate themselves about challenges veterans face when they come home and ways the we can stand by them as they navigate those challenges.I bought the kindle book, and it was super well linked. Each individual service member has their own link to their section. Reading the way President Bush writes about these service men actually gave me a new and expanded perspective on him, it is very evident in the way he writes that he does care about their causes and is touched by them personally and as individuals.He mentions in the book that he's a novice, and he's not sure how people will receive his works. I read a piece a couple years back by some artists and critics who weren't very flattering in their assessments, so I imagine he's already been exposed to some of that. Look, it's hard to put yourself out there with artwork, it's so subjective and based on personal tastes and preferences. What one person loves another loathes. I took a drawing class in college and got a B on a project...the professor's only reason was she hated my subject matter, thought it wasn't mature enough, the thrust of her criticism was not about my technique. That's how the world of art goes. Highly opinionated.I think it's true that President Bush's former occupation has given him a platform for public success in his artistic endeavors that many artists don't have, so he has not had to rely strictly on how appealing his works are to others. And yet, while the style he uses isn't my personal favorite, I do think his portraits convey emotion and give a sense of the personalities of the individuals he's painting, and in my mind, that's what makes a work successful...if it can evoke or convey emotion and expression.So overall, I think this is a well done, well written book that promotes a good cause and I find it to be an interesting and worthwhile read.

A PRESIDENTIAL WORK worthy of keep regardless of one’s political view. As an artist, I was intrigued to hear about this book by former President George W. Bush. The president took on art (painting) after leaving the office, without any previous art background, but his desire to paint lead to this book; Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. The title of the book is kind of self-explanatory, it deals with the courageous men and women who served in the military. A story about their lives before their call of duty and their day to life now. These men and women are true heroes and heroine. The book 191 pages are filled with many, many characters and their stories. There is also a section in the book, I really like as an artist. It gives more details about the paintings. Such as the medium the president used and the size of the painting. Furthermore, the index section, allows the reader to quickly find each individual within the book. Another thing to mention is the dust jacket of the book. Its design is quite brilliant. There is representation of seven paintings on the front cover. These paintings have a separate texture than the dust jacket smooth coating. Therefore, it gives you the feel as if you were touching an oil painting on canvas. I thought this was brilliant. The book is a large book, measuring Ten by eight inches. It will make a great coffee table book and something special to keep in anyone's personal library. Also, the book will make a great gift for the men and women that featured in this book, or their families and people who know them, or anyone in general and all artists as well. Lastly, the president did not just paint these men and women, but he has met with most of them personally multiple of times. Like all True Commander in Chief should do.

This book was so beautiful well written and such a great tribute to our vets.Visiting the room at the Nixon Museum was also an amazing experience. This is what made me buy this book and I will treasure it and look forward to passing it down to my grandchildren.

I preface this Amazon review by admitting that I actually pre-ordered this kindlebook of Portraits of Courage; A Commander’s Tribute to America’s Warriors by George W. Bush with Laura Bush and Peter Pace credited in the forewords on Saturday October 8, 2016 due to my military themed interests pertaining to movies, books etc. stemming from the time I served in the navy. This was well after I had already had my mind made up on voting for Hillary Clinton and following through with voting for her on my birthday, which was also on election day certain that her victory was secured. My point; I try to avoid letting my personal politics indirectly color whether I look at writings andor creative work from men andor women from other sides of the political aisle as I believe maturely being open and considering viewpoints different from my own expands my understanding and wisdom of the world both around me and outside of me. Even then, I was working on being more courageous in various areas of my life and both the title and the feature that various current and former members of the military were going to be featured in this kindlebook caught my attention. With that out of the way, the following are some of the features of this kindlebook for those who are still deciding on purchasing this kindlebook; artistic portrait of Christopher Self a sergeant major who served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1984-1986 and U.S. Army from 1986 to 2013, Master Seargant Scott Neil who served in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 2010, Master Sergeant Roque Urena who served in the U.S. Airforce from 1983 to 2008, Leslie Zimmerman who served in the U.S. Army from 2001-2004, Chris Goehner who was in the navy from 2003 to 2006, and more people who have been affiliated with the military. I also liked that stories were included to get an idea of why they may appear the way they do in their artistic portraits.

I am no GW fan but I think his painting is very sweet. I give him kudos for putting himself out there as he’s not trained. And, he paints veterans.

This book is very high quality.Every part of this book indicates quality: the images, the print, the paper, the binding.

Der ehemalige US-Präsident widmet sich hier Veteranen des Irak-Krieges, den er selbst zu verantworten hat. Er investiert viel Energie in Charity-Projekte für Kriegsveteranen und beteiligt sich aktiv an Veranstaltungen. Immerhin leugnet er nicht großmäulig seine Schuld und Verstrickung, wie manch anderer, sondern versucht, zumindest etwas wieder gut zu machen.Zu jedem Portrait findet sich eine Beschreibung der dargestellten Person, deren Verletzungen und wie sie damit umgeht. Zu einigen gibt es auch persönliche Zitate. So kommt eine beeindruckende Sammlung unterschiedlichster Persönlichkeiten zustande, manche weiter vom Krieg überzeugt, manche zu Pazifisten geworden.Künstlerisch hat Bush sich sehr stark weiterentwickelt. Die Portraits sind ausdrucksstark und spiegeln mit groben Strichen Emotionen und Charaktere wider. Bush hat offenkundig großes Talent. Beim Betrachten spürt man seine Empathie und sieht, dass er in der Lage ist, das Wesentliche einer Persönlichkeit scheinbar mühelos herauszuarbeiten.Die Einnahmen gehen nicht an den Künstler, sondern an das Bush Presidential Center, das sich der Wiedereingliederung von Veteranen ins zivile Leben widmet. So kann man das Buch guten Gewissens kaufen.Durchgehend farbige Bilder auf hochwertigem Papier, Texte in englischer Sprache.

bought for grandson he likes it

Delivered as expected